This itinerary includes some of the most important and yet least-visited sites at the heart of the Renaissance city, including the Jewish Ghetto and Campo dei Fiori. The tawdry side of the city's history often took place away from prying eyes, and as you wander through the cobblestone back-alleys and charming piazzas you will discover a new side of the Eternal City. The tour finishes at Castel Sant'Angelo, home to both the opulent residence of the Popes and the dismal prisons of the Inquisition, as well as one of the best views of Rome from its parapets.

An impassioned journey into the history of Rome through the scandals which have marked the course of the city from its founding up until modern day. Crime, political crisis, and the amorous passions of emperors and popes have all left their mark, and the stories of artists and prostitutes have long outlived their protagonists. The very fabric of the city was shaped by public execution, war and assassination; these horrors and violence have proven impossible to forget (despite the attempts of powerful men to erase them). This itinerary will open the gossip pages of history, exploring the lifestyles, ideas and morality at the center of which such scandals erupted. We will visit the places within the city where these depravities played themselves out before the incredulous eyes of the bystanders.

The love affairs and dying words of Julius Caesar, Octavian Augustus, Hadrian and other Roman emperors; the inspiration and the passion of great artists who lived in a city teeming with enthusiasm and audacity (including the homosexual affairs of Michelangelo and Caravaggio, too often hushed up); the luxury and arrogance of Pope Leo X and the Borgia Pope Alexander VI, men devoted not to the Glory of the Church but the glory of themselves; the intransigence and cruelty of Pope Clement VIII and others who, at the head of the ferocious Roman Inquisition, put Galileo on trial and had heretic theologian Giordano Bruno burned alive. The abuses and corruption of history's most powerful men were infinite, and many lived with a powerful contradiction between what they preached against in public and how they carried on in their courts and private apartments.

The tour will confront some the most dramatic and audacious pages in the history of Rome by the light of today's historical knowledge. A healthy dose of the critical spirit and a willingness to question the preconceived notions of reality are indispensable to the appreciation of this itinerary.

Welcome to more than 2700 years of scandals.

Tour Locations and themes in depth

Latest News - Scandals only